The return of the school year has seen our Community Cricket Coaches delivering our programmes across the county.
We caught up with each of them to provide an update on how the autumn term went and what they have been working on.
If you are a school or club looking for support promoting and delivering cricket, please get in touch with your local community coach.
North Devon - Martin Brice
The Autumn Term for a Community Coach means hitting the ground running after the summer break. On top of the demands that this term generally brings I did also have the fantastic opportunity of being part of the coaching team for the Under 15 Boys Tour of South Africa in October, new life experiences gained and shared!
The success and popularity of our Whole School Programme, which provides a weekly Cricket Day at a Primary School for six weeks, seems to grow each academic year. This programme allows us to bring the game of cricket to life over a number of weeks.
During the autumn term, I had the pleasure of working with pupils and staff from Ashleigh C of E (Barnstaple), Bishops Nympton, High Bickington C of E Academy, Roundswell Community Academy, Umberleigh Primary Academy, Witheridge C of E Academy, and Yeo Valley (Barnstaple). It's rewarding to see students develop key skills like throwing, catching, and coordination, even when surprise moments, like Elf Day at Witheridge, keep us on our toes!
Although Engagement Days are rare in autumn, we made an exception in September at Lynton and Lynmouth CC, one of England’s most picturesque grounds. Pupils from Lynton and Parracombe C of E Primaries enjoyed learning and playing cricket at the scenic Valley of Rocks, a memorable highlight of the term.
The majority of the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) programme in North Devon runs over the terms either side of the Christmas break, delivering multi-week activities similar to the Whole School Programme at Lampard School (Barnstaple), Marland School (Bideford), and Pathfield School (Barnstaple), with a taster session at Acorn School (Winkleigh) ahead of a January launch. Additionally, a fully-funded ECB Dynamos Intros programme at Fremington Primary in November provided cricket access to 19 pupils who otherwise couldn't join club-based initiatives.
Community engagement flourished through partnerships with Active Devon and Pilton Community College. The college's new nets, funded by the Opening School Facilities Fund, attracted Braunton CC and North Devon CC for winter training.
Part of the funding provided by Active Devon also led to the Devon Cricket Foundation being able to deliver a Foundation Coaching Course at the college, with 17 new coaches being qualified to bolster the coaching workforce at local clubs.
There is never a quiet term, so here's looking forward to the next one!
West Devon - Jack Ormsby
The start of the new school year was a busy start in the West, delivering six Whole School Programmes, one SEND programme and a Dynamos Intro afterschool club. The term also saw the restart of Wicketz and Super 1s.
The first half of term saw me deliver at The Cathedral School of St Mary right in the heart of Plymouth, Beechwood Primary Academy on the outskirts of the city, and High Street Primary Academy in Stonehouse. It was nice to go back to the schools where all of the participants were extremely engaged and willing to try new things whilst playing.
To round off the school delivery for the first half of the term, I was in St Joseph’s R C Primary School. It was great to be in this Devonport-based school during the half term, where both students and teachers were vibrant and engaged during our session.
During the second half of the term, I had the opportunity to deliver at Mount Wise Community Primary School, Tavistock Primary and Nursery School, and Longcause Community Special School. The latter was a nice change of pace as I was able to deliver some softball SEND sessions for the first time in a school.
Outside of school time I delivered on our Wicketz and Super1s hubs in Plymouth. It was great to see new faces at the sessions and participants who might not have the opportunity to engage in cricket outside of school have the chance to play every week and learn in different ways about the game.
East Devon - Chris Brown
A new school year sees a new Community Cricket Coach for East Devon!
The first half of the term saw me deliver Whole School Programmes at Ide Primary School (Exeter), Alphington Primary School (Exeter) and Exeter Road Community Primary School (Exmouth), whilst the second half of the term I delivered at Musbury Primary School (Axminster), Axminster Community Academy & Wynstream Primary School (Exeter), as well as an Engagement Day at St Andrew's Primary School (Chardstock).
Alongside this, I have been working with my predecessor Damian Price to run the East Devon Wicketz and Super1s hubs.
I have loved my first term, delivering at so many different schools and working with a lot of enthusiastic children and teachers! I have particularly enjoyed the SEND delivery, which has been a brilliant new challenge for me which I have found incredibly rewarding.
Next term is looking exciting and I cannot wait to get going!
South Devon - Niall Leahy
The start of the 2024/25 school year was met with a full schedule with four Whole School Programmes organised. Wolborough, Preston, Westcliff & St Catherines were the four venues to begin the new school year. All four programmes were thoroughly enjoyable with all schools engaging fantastically with the programme. Even the customary few rainy days didn’t stop the classes from getting involved in all the sessions. And I would like to say a big thank you to all the schools for being some welcoming.
The biggest aim for the Whole school programme is for the pupils to enjoy the sessions and hopefully become more confident with the various cricket skills they learnt each week. Every week the classes came out excited to take part and the improvement in skills each week was fantastic.
The end of September saw the start of our Super 1s hub in its new location at St Cuthbert Mayne School. A change of venue brought some new faces as well as a few returning familiar faces. The new participants quickly fitted in with our returning faces and turned up each week with great enthusiasm and desire to learn.
After the October half term, the focus shifted to SEN Delivery with three SEND schools receiving cricket delivery. Firstly, we had a return to Combe Pafford School who are always supportive of our programmes, and it was great to return to the school and work with some new pupils. This term also saw a new school for me to deliver in. Glendinning School offered an opportunity to work with a range of ages and deliver both softball cricket as well as our table cricket offer. The third bit of SEND delivery for the term was going to Bidwell Brook for an after-school club. The students and the staff got really involved in all of the sessions and despite the cold weather, all the students became more confident every week.
The last part of the winter term saw me deliver a whole school programme and a Dynamos Intro after-school club at Cockington Primary. The Year 2 and 3 classes were a credit to the school and the support from the staff during the sessions made everything run smoothly. The Dynamos intros after-school club was a great success with numbers growing each week, going from five or six sign-ups in Week 1 and finishing with 20 pupils signed up. A big thanks must go to Mrs Pattinson for arranging the Afterschool club and supporting the sessions each week.
If you are a school or club looking for support promoting and delivering cricket, please get in touch with your local community coach.
